Gaming machines such as slot, video poker, lottery, keno or bingo machines, are very prevalent. Larger casinos may have many thousands of such machines on their floor. On the one hand, these machines are wagering machines and thus must be kept very secure. For example, tampering with a gaming machine might cause the gaming machine to fraudulently indicate a game win and award winnings. Further, the machines generally accept and/or dispense coins or currency, and access to the interior thereof may result in theft of these monies. As a result, substantial efforts are made to make the gaming machines secure.
At the same time, the machines must be frequently serviced. For example, casino personnel may need to access the interior of a gaming machine to remove a full cash/currency box or to deposit coins to be dispensed as winnings. Casino personnel might also need to perform repairs. Thus, the interior of the gaming machines must be readily accessible for such purposes.
In order to provide access, a gaming machine may be configured with one or more doors. These doors may be opened to permit access to the interior of the machine, and closed to secure the machine. One problem that exists, however, is that standard door latching mechanisms have several drawbacks. A prevalent latching mechanism is a key-operated rotating latch that is moveable between a latched and unlatched position. A drawback to this configuration is that the door can only be latch if it is first completely closed and then the key is rotated so that the latch catches the door. If the door is not completely closed, when the latch is rotated it may not catch the door and though the door may appear secure, it may be opened. To ensure that the door is closed, a technician may swing the door shut swiftly. However, this may cause the door to hit the gaming cabinet with impact, damaging one or more components thereof.
Thus, an improved door latching configuration for a gaming machine is desired.